Welcome to Life's a Game, a weekly newsletter to help ambitious people win at work AND life. Was this sent to you? Subscribe here so you don't miss the next one.​ High Performers
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One of my favorite sayings from a high school Life Skills class: TL;DR = Your thoughts influence where you will go in life. “You live the words you tell yourself in your mind.” Today I’m going to teach you how to reprogram your brain for high performance.
♟️ MY TURN:Some of you reading may have an allergic reaction to words like manifestation or mantra……so I’m going to start with science and facts before we dive into some daily applications. Cool? Knee pain & Placebo effects A few years ago I learned about a placebo effect study done in 2002. In the study, 180 patients with knee pain were randomized into groups. One group received a procedure to fix the pain. Another group underwent simulated surgery; small incisions were made, but no instruments were inserted and no cartilage removed. Before undergoing surgery, participants wrote in their chart, "On entering this study, I realize that I may receive only placebo surgery. I further realize that this means that I will not have surgery on my knee joint. This placebo surgery will not benefit my knee arthritis." They knew they might not get an actual procedure! During two years of follow-up, patients in both groups reported moderate improvements in pain and ability to function. However, no one reported less pain or better function than the placebo group. The placebo patients even reported better outcomes than the patients at certain points during follow-up. They believed they were better, so they were. Feels super hero-esque, right? Moving on to the next example…..as a former fitness professional and athlete, I’ve been fascinated by the psycho-biological connection (how our brain affects our body’s performance). Positivity as a performance enhancer
A January 2018 article in the “Psychology of Sport and Exercise” journal looked at the effects of smiling, frowning and relaxing while running. They had 24 trained runners do six-minute on a treadmill at 70 percent of velocity at VO2 max (essentially an easy run pace). When smiling, they used less perceived effort and energy to go the same pace, translating to improved running economy of 2.2 percent over control and 2.8 percent over frowning. The “facial feedback hypothesis” indicates that a smile or a frown can actually influence emotional experience. And studies show emotional state has an impact on running economy and performance, with positivity usually making faster running feel easier. A second study on performance and psychology investigated the effects of a motivational self-talk on RPE (rate of perceived exertion aka how hard does this feel) and endurance performance. 24 participants performed two cycling tests focused on time-to-exhaustion. The second test followed a two week self talk intervention for half of the participants. The results revealed that self talk significantly slowed time to exhaustion and reduced RPE - meaning people could go further for longer with the main variable being positive self talk. So what’s the TL;DR (too long didn’t read)
♟️ YOUR TURN:So let’s put this into practice. Some of you reading may have an allergic reaction to words like manifestation or mantra…… So let’s call it what it is: self-talk. What is self talk? Self-talk is your internal dialogue. It’s influenced by your subconscious mind, and reveals your thoughts, beliefs, questions, and ideas. The following 4 strategies re-wire your inner voice and unlock the next level in this game of life. Step 1: Name ItWe all have an inner voice that tells us we aren’t as good or why we shouldn’t be doing something. ​I wrote about an exercise I use in therapy called the "emotional bus" to remind us we all have different versions of ourselves inside of us at all times. At any given time, current you should be driving the bus. You are an adult with logic and reasoning and know you're going to get through whatever is coming at you. However….. Sometimes a situation will stir up 6 year old Amanda. Little Amanda is scared of being abandoned and alone. 6 yo Amanda hijacks the driver’s seat and starts to drive us all to spiral city to avoid being abandoned. She is not equipped to be driving. So name the negative bus rider. Give it a name (Sheila or Karen or Bob or Fred) and every time it pops into your head - acknowledge Bob, thank him for stopping by and show him back to his seat. Step 2: Identity itThere are 4 types of negative self talk:
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2x Founder | Brand Builder | Creator | Investor Featured in Forbes, Ad Week, Poosh, The Skinny Confidential Over 110,000 people follow Amanda to learn how to get the most out of life. Single mom x3 Teaching Productivity to emerging Leaders via Morning Brew
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